You're Cute
by Cavacookie
Summary: 3x14 AU What if Oliver didn't stay hidden in the shadows? Season 1 rewrite
1. Prologue: You're Cute

**Idea prompted by roses-teardrops on tumblr**

"You're cute," a blonde woman with glasses said to the photograph of Oliver. Oliver watched as the woman smiled sadly at the photograph. "It's too bad you are, you know, dead. Which is obviously a lot worse for you than it is me. I really need to stop talking to myself." She shook her head in despair: it had been a very long and arduous day.

Oliver smiled at the blonde woman; he couldn't remember smiling like this since Shado. She was very different from anyone that he had met in the past three years. Oliver felt like he wasn't looking at some threat or target but an actual human who could not possibly be sadistic or cruel minded in anyway. He knew that this was a quick assumption to make, but innocence basically radiated from her.

Distracted by the blonde woman and her babbling, the pen drive slipped out of Oliver's grasp onto the ground clattering away from him causing him to curse loudly. He stumbled to the ground to try and retrieve the drive but fumbled around for it feeling like an idiot. The woman had distracted him and now they both were going to suffer from the consequences.

The blonde woman, otherwise known as Felicity was an IT girl that hated mysteries and a loud crashing noise seemed like a rather big mystery to her. Her eyes raised from the photo of Oliver Queen which she had been admiring and rushed in the direction of the noise not really caring that she might be about to put herself in danger. To her surprise she found a rather muscular man in a hoodie rolling about on the floor. The man glanced up at her and then pulled his hood down attempting (but failing) to hide his face. This made Felicity fairly certain that this man, in the hoodie was not meant to be here and he was definitely trying to avoid being caught. But there was something about him. Under his lank brown hair his facial features were soft. Recognisable features. Even Cute features. It was almost like he was-

"Oliver Queen?"

Oliver swore again. He had been distracted by her for all of one second and now he was in this predicament. The easy and logical solution was of course to kill her- he knew that Waller would probably do so if he did not. He had been warned about The consequences of his secret getting out. However, Oliver couldn't bring himself to lay a finger on this woman. She tensed upon noticing the weapon in his hand. "I don't want to hurt you."

"But you are dead," Felicity mumbled, trying to avoid starting one of her 'famous' babbles. "I mean you _were_ dead... you drowned?" Felicity gulped, exhaling loudly. "Cute people don't return from the dead. Well _no one_ returns from the dead. And what have you done to your hair? Okay I'm going to stop talking in 3... 2... 1..."

Oliver stepped forward to try to be his scary and imposing self but he looked into her eyes and knew he couldn't do this to her. He wouldn't harm her. Instead, he used his kicked puppy face and pitiful expression. "No one can know I'm alive. There's this organisation which would kill us both right now if so much as utter a word about seeing me. You can't even attempt to tell anyone about seeing me tonight. Do you understand?"

Before Felicity had time respond, Oliver took a couple of steps backwards and vanished behind the door of the room. Oliver had left her with no choice- she was going to have to keep his secret.

**Please review! Feel free to check out my other Olicity fics. Also you can prompt or follow me on tumblr (username Cavacookie)**


	2. The Hood

**Thank you to everyone for their inspirational reviews. This fic was originally meant to be a one shot but I'm going to continue because I enjoyed writing this and the interest shown was awesome. Also, big thanks to akaHAZZAP for being my amazing beta reader/editor.**

During the following months, Felicity often thought about her encounter with the not-so-cute Oliver.

Sometimes it seemed so implausible the he was alive that Felicity wondered if she had actually really seen the 'dead' billionaire; but Felicity was sure he was real. However, as time went on, Felicity thought less and less about the billionaire. She hadn't forgotten about him but it seemed to be getting less likely that she would ever see him again. For all Felicity knew, Oliver Queen could have actually died since their encounter.

It wasn't until two years later that Felicity was certain that Oliver Queen hadn't died. She had turned on her TV to find that the main headline was: OLIVER QUEEN IS ALIVE.

Then, only a couple of days after Oliver Queen had returned, he and his best friend had been taken hostage to be rescued by a hooded vigilante. Felicity thought this was very suspicious because there has not been a sighting of a vigilante before. Days later the Vigilante had been all over the news again when he had apparently attacked Adam Hunt for his money. It hadn't taken too long for Felicity to jump to the conclusion that Oliver Queen was quite possibly the psychopath running around in a green hood. His body was covered in twenty percent scar tissue and he had twelve fractures that had never properly healed. At least that is what Felicity discovered after she had hacked his medical records out of concern for his well being. Plus there was the fact that Oliver had been clutching a knife when he had broken into Queen Consolidated all those years previously.

Felicity had always been able to keep the secret of him being alive without much of a problem. However, if he was the arrow, could she really cope with the knowledge that he was killing people when she could stop it? She decided it was best for her to actually confront him before taken any further actions, though meeting the billionaire proved to be harder then it seemed: apparently, millions of other young woman were trying to do the same thing. Felicity decided to formulate a plan on how to get into contact with him. Upon hearing about Oliver Queen's return from the dead party, she successfully managed to "hack" her way onto the guest list without any difficulties at all. Once she was in the party, she could then reveal her identity to him.

It wasn't until Felicity arrived at the party that she realised how long it had been since she had been to a party of this size. Felicity had been late leaving work and by the time she arrived the party was well underway. She attempted to scan the room for Oliver but couldn't seen him due to the vast number of people present. She gave up searching and tried to blend in with the rest of the crowd as much as possible.

An hour later, Felicity still hadn't seen Oliver which was ironic since she was at his party. However, she eventually noticed him coming in from a side door to talk to a man with black hair. She walked slowly towards Oliver trying not to draw attention to herself, her eyes fixated on him so she wouldn't lose him again. Once she had reached him she purposely bumped into his side and whispered in his ear, "I know you're the Hood." Before strolling away from him again, beckoning Oliver to follow her.

"What's up buddy?" Tommy asked, following his vision of sight. He spotted Felicity stranding in the near distance. "Wow she is one mega hot chick." He slapped Oliver on back. "Good luck with that one."

To say Felicity felt nervous when Oliver strode towards her was an understatement- she was extremely frightened. His body figure was muscular and Felicity knew he could probably kill her with one hand. To Felicity's surprise, he wrapped his left arm around her waist. It wasn't an intimate gesture though, it more seemed to be him forcefully guiding her to where he wanted her to be. Oliver seemed composed in a frighteningly serial-killer-waiting-to-kill-his-next-victim manner. Felicity gulped as they arrived in a back room of the building and tensed when Oliver slammed the door shut behind him.

He maliciously approached her, causing Felicity to back into the corner of the room. "Did Waller send you?" Oliver growled. Felicity didn't reply from shock that he really was the vigilante "ARE YOU ARGUS OR BRATVA?" Oliver placed his hands on his shoulders and roughly pushed her against the wall. He was definitely the Hood.

"You're cute," Felicity murmured, just hoping that he would remember. At once, Oliver's hardened look softened and he gently let go of her shoulders. Felicity winced, she was sure that there were going to nasty purple bruises on them the next day.

"You kept my secret," Oliver sincerely said. "And I didn't even know your name." He seemed almost grateful though this seemed too great a jump from the man Felicity had just bore witness to.

"You're the Hood and you kill people. Not nice people but you still kill them," Felicity replied still shocked. She couldn't even begin to comprehend how Oliver could kill anyone.

Oliver tentatively took a step back from her, knowing that he had a lot of explaining to do. "My father left me a list of names before he shot himself in the head. He said that I had to right his wrongs. Vermin like Adam Hunt rob from the poor and I need to take care of them in order to protect my city. Adam Hunt is very much alive but his money has been transferred to the people he has robbed from who are in great need of it."

Felicity touched her glasses unsure of how to process all of this information. Oliver Queen was very much alive and the Starling City vigilante and quite handsome. She didn't know whether she should phone up the police or not.

"It's okay," Oliver reassured, sensing her distress. "I'm not going to hurt you. You are the jury. You make the decision. Either call the cops or leave me to be the vigilante." Oliver knew he was taking a large gamble here but he knew that killing this woman wasn't an option. There was just something innocent about her as if she could never be touched by darkness.

Felicity felt for her phone in her pocket but then gazed at Oliver. He had already spent five years separated from his family. Did he really need to spend the rest of his years away from them in prison? "No I'm not going to call them."

"Thank you," Oliver gently said, glad that his risk had paid off. He didn't understand how he trusted this woman, whose name he didn't know, so much. It just felt right.

"I was sorry to scare you but you billionaire playboys seem to be harder to get into contact with than the President of America which is really saying something," Felicity babbled. Oliver chuckled despite the severity of the situation. He held out his hand which she shook. "Felicity Smoak, IT girl and the world's greatest hacker," she said, although Felicity wasn't too sure why they were shaking hands when they hadn't agreed on anything.

"Well then Ms. Smoak, how would you like to become partners in crime?"

**Did you like it? Please review or PM. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Partners in Crime

**I plan to update this fic every Thursday although there may not be an update next week because I have a lot of school work that needs handed in. Hope you enjoy this installment. :)**

_"Well Ms. Smoak, how would you like to become partners in crime?"_

...

"Wh... What did you just say?" Felicity exclaimed, trying to keep calm. Was Oliver really asking her to become his partner? Felicity couldn't quite imagine herself fitting in with the Starling City Vigilante- especially since she had a phobia of pointy things and arrows were very pointy. She would have to work as an IT girl by day and fighting crime by shooting pointy arrows was definitely not in her top 10 skills. The only thing she could do that could possible help the vigilante is becoming a badass hacker by night.

"I just happened to be looking for someone with your particular skill set," Oliver explained, smiling ever so slightly. Felicity let out a sigh, relieved that she would not be required to pick up a bow and arrow. Then she frowned at Oliver's change from scary psychopath to someone with a gentle demeanour. It really unnerved her but there was something soothing about his presence which made her feel safe. Felicity felt extremely confused as her emotions and thoughts towards Oliver were in a constant state of in flux.

"Maybe," she contemplated. "But I don't want to become an accessory to orphaning little kids, Mr Queen." Felicity was firm upon this matter: she had lost her father at a young age and didn't want any other child to go through losing a parent.

"Mr Queen was my father," Oliver unemotionally said.

Felicity had somehow managed to keep her cool but now she panicked. "But he died- I mean drowned." She nervously gulped, hoping that she hadn't upset Oliver. "I'm so sorry. I should really stop talking, which will happen in 3... actually right now."

"Hey. It's okay," Oliver reassured, placing his hand on her arm. "Just call me Oliver from now on." Oliver wore a very worried and stern expression on his face. "I'm also not planning on orphaning little kids. I don't take dressing up as the man under the hood lightly, Ms. Smoak. Before my father shot himself in the head, he left me a book of names and told me to right his wrongs. By becoming this vigilante, I'm stopping children from becoming homeless, living in poverty and being parentless. You need to trust me on this."

"The problem is I don't trust you, well I don't think I trust you anyway" muttered Felicity. Her words hit Oliver like bullets. He wasn't sure why her words had hit him so personally but thought it may have been because he had placed immense trust in Felicity. "I'm sorry, Oliver, but you dress up in a hood and kill people. You must be able to see my point. "

"Would you become my partner if I'd only kill if an innocent person's life was on the line?" Oliver questioned. He knew that not killing the enemy could be risky to his own life but Oliver thought that Felicity would refuse to join his crusade if he continued his killing spree.

"I'd be more amenable but I would still have to go away and think very carefully about this proposal," Felicity said, giving nothing away. "And by proposal I mean vigilante proposal and-"

"-not marriage proposal," Oliver said, finishing off her sentence, smirking. Felicity was bemused at his sudden change in emotion. He really was a confusing person.

"And call me Felicity," she said all of a sudden. It seemed more of an outburst than it felt in her head.

Oliver cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for what I've put you through. I'll get my bodyguard to drive you home so you can get some sleep. Please think about it, Felicity. You could help save people's lives," he said, testing out her name. It fell from his lips naturally. Felicity was a very beautiful name which Oliver thought suited this woman very well.

Felicity should've been annoyed at this stranger sending her home but she was so exhausted that she could've fallen asleep right there and she had a feeling that Oliver definitely wouldn't appreciate that. One thing she had learnt from this evening was that Oliver was an extremely stubborn man. This was something that she thought important to note so that she would be on peak form to even have a chance of win an argument against him.

Oliver led Felicity out of the room back towards the party. When they were halfway down the corridor Oliver took out his phone out, swearing loudly.

"Wait here. I need to go and speak to the police who have decided to gatecrash. My bodyguard will be here soon." Leaving Felicity no chance to respond, Oliver rushed into the main hall where everyone from the party was still gathered.

"Okay then... I will just wait for you right here... Or that bodyguard whoever he is," called Felicity to no one but herself, thinking about Oliver's proposition. She had some serious decision making to make.

Eventually Oliver's bodyguard arrived, he seemed rather disgruntled to be used as her driver. Felicity thought this was extremely reasonable as it couldn't be something that was listed on his job description. This led to a rather awkward -and silent- car journey back to her house. Felicity was lost in her thoughts of Oliver and the vigilante, wondering if she should accept his proposal and how much her life would change if she did.

Eventually, the car pulled up beside Felicity's apartment allowing her to awkwardly broke the silence. "Thank you Mr..."

"Diggle ma'am," the bodyguard replied in a business like way. He turned around in the driver's seat to hand her a folded scrap of paper. "Mr Queen told me to give you this." She took the napkin from him gratefully and opened it finding a phone number scrawled across it.

Felicity nervously touched her glasses, thinking how this situation must look to Oliver's bodyguard. Oliver was a well known playboy before his 'disappearance' and she was definitely sure he still liked to spend time with the ladies.

"I know how this looks but I'm not sleeping with Mr Queen. He's basically a stranger to me and we are definitely not partners. We've only met twice and that was under platonic circumstances. There is absolutely no way that those circumstances would be seen as not platonic- not that Mr- Oliver isn't kind or good looking but he's just not my type." The bodyguard knowingly folded his arms and shook his head slightly gazing at her in the car mirror. He knew it wasn't his business to pry but he couldn't avoid noticing that Oliver had acted different around this woman.

"As long as you haven't been sent to assassinate Mr Queen, it's none of my concern Ma'am," Diggle said. At least this woman appeared to be polite, compassionate and extremely wordy - something which Diggle didn't think were traits which often occurred in the women that Oliver slept with.

"I really do fit the assassin stereotypical look," Felicity sarcastically laughed. "I mean do NOT look like an assassin. Why does my brain always have to think one thing but say another? Any thank you very much for the lift Mr Diggle!"

Felicity stepped out of the car and headed into her apartment. She went straight to the freezer for her supply of mint choc chip ice cream to process what had happened. Somehow she had been asked to join the Starling City's Vigilante's team. Felicity had no doubt that the arrow was a violent individual, but the arrow wasn't Oliver Queen. The Arrow had been the one who had threatened her by pinning her to the wall; Oliver Queen had been the one to apologise and act thankful towards her. Perhaps if she joined the Arrow's crusade she would be able to harness the light inside of Oliver to help make him become a better person.

When Felicity collapsed in her bed later that night, she was left with a certain chill. Should she accept Oliver's proposal or not? Thinking about this crusade, this adventure which she could be apart of Felicity felt an intense excitement. For the first time in ages, it felt like maybe she could make a change to the world and make it a better place.

...

Oliver didn't sleep that night. As soon as Oliver had dealt with the police, he crept away to the foundry to brood. Oliver was absolutely certain that he had made a mistake to ask Felicity to join his crusade: it would be more dangerous than she could possibly imagine. She could get herself seriously injured and it would be his fault. However, Oliver did struggle immensely with all the hacking and he knew that he would gain much from this hacker's prowess. Plus Oliver also liked the idea of having someone that knew him properly for what he was and someone who wouldn't judge him. He had this feeling that Felicity could be that person.

**Reviews appreciated! Thank you for reading! :D**


	4. The Arrowcave

**So I have returned from the land of the dead aka school work. Arrow was amazing last night, huh? (Won't say anything in case you haven't seen it). **

**Anyway, I would like to thank all my amazing readers, billions of story followers and reviewers for being remarkable! Thanks once again to my beta reader akahazzap. She writes olicity fanfiction as well (it's awesome)! And now I am beginning to sound I've won an Oscar with all my thank you's! Enjoy! (hopefully)**

Oliver nervously kept on checking his phone throughout the night to see if Felicity had left him a message of any kind. He was desperately craving some sort of clarification that she was alright after the ordeal that he had put her through. Eventually, after a restless night, he received a text from Felicity at seven the next morning. Oliver responded within seconds asking her to meet at him at a specific factory in the Glades. For the remainder of the morning Oliver thought about what his meeting with Felicity was going to be like. After much thought he arrived at the factory an hour early, ready to face whatever Felicity had to say.

"Oliver. Oliver!" Felicity nervously called, suspiciously looking around the factory. She thought it was slightly strange for Oliver to have forwarded her this location to arrive at but assumed that it might have something to do with the Arrow's secret operation base.

"Hey," Oliver said, climbing up a dilapidated staircase. Felicity would have been surprised at how Oliver had suddenly appear but he was the Hood after all.

"If this is the arrowcave, then I'm very unimpressed. I was expecting a secret lair under your house with cool lights and technology. You know Batman style." Oliver stared at her blankly. "Instead all I get is this run down old factory in the Glades." Oliver laughed which shocked Felicity, because she hardly thought that the vigilante and the man that had spent five years away from civilisation could possibly find her amusing.

"It's not called the arrow cave," Oliver gently growled, switching back to his serious self. He led her down the stairs. "Welcome to the Foundry Felicity Smoak."

Oliver pulled down the lever and the dim lights flickered on to reveal a dingy room. Technology sat on these steel tables which were almost 'centuries' old. Felicity tutted and narrowed her eyes.

"What is it?" Oliver worriedly asked, his eyes scanning the room. He needed to optimise his chances of having Felicity join the team. She would be an invaluable asset as a computer hacker to him but she was also the person who he could be himself around. Oliver almost felt like he hadn't done any of the terrible things of the past five years when he was around Felicity. He knew that Felicity made him feel less damaged and more human. She was his lightness.

Felicity touched her glasses."Its just these computers look like they are from the eighties and NOT the good part like Madonna and leg warmers," Felicity replied. The state that the precious computers were in pained her soul.

"Does that mean that you are in?"

Oliver eagerly tried to guess what Felicity was thinking but she wasn't giving anything away.

Felicity crossed her arms in her ultimate serious tone. "I have three conditions. One, you don't kill anyone unless there is an innocent civilian about to die and you can't do anything about it. Two, you always discuss with me what you're going to do unless it is an emergency. And three, this is the arrowcave and you better start using its proper name."

"What kind of na-"

"There is no leniency," Felicity firmly said. "You can either accept or decline my proposal, Mr Vigilante."

Oliver sighed, shaking his head slightly and a small grin appeared on his face. Felicity might have initially just been one _mega_ smart and adorable IT girl, but now she was turning out to be so much more than that. However, Oliver's face suddenly fell. "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to..." He paused for a moment, dramatically. He could at least try to be funny as well. "...accept you're proposal. Partners?" Oliver held out his hand for Felicity to shake.

"Partners," Felicity agreed, firmly shaking his hand. They just stood there for a moment, pondering on what was going to happen now that they were working together. Eventually, Felicity turned towards the computers trying to figure out what needed replace and upgraded- quite frankly all of it did. Even the browser needed to be upgraded for quicker Internet access.

"If I gave you a million dollars, would that be a sufficient sum to sort this place out?" Oliver asked.

"A _million _dollars," Felicity incredulously repeated. That was over five times the price of her apartment and, yet, Oliver said it so casually as if he spent that much money every second day. This left Felicity speechless which was a very rare occurrence.

Keen to move on, Oliver brought up an article about Martin Somers onto one of the computer screens. "If you're not too busy, Felicity, I would also like you to find everything you can on Martin Somers. I think he may be participating in illegal drug trades with the Triad."

Felicity looked at him blankly. "The Triad?"

"The Chinese mob. I've had previous encounters with their dealings and their leader- China White," Oliver explained.

"Was that when you were 'on' the island?" Felicity asked. It seemed like an age ago since she had first met Oliver in Starling City and still wasn't completely sure why he hadn't told anyone that he was alive this five years ago. Oliver was still an enigmatic figure in her eyes and Felicity wasn't too sure how long it would take her to figure him out, if she ever did.

"Yes it was," Oliver murmured. It was obvious that he still wasn't ready to talk about the island and his experiences of the last five years, not even to her. She would need to give him more time. "I have to go and be legally resurrected. Will you be okay?" Oliver asked worriedly placed his hand on her shoulder and surveyed her closely.

"Yes," Felicity murmured, enjoying his touch far too much. Even if he was the vigilante he was mega hot! "Do they actually resurrect people on a Saturday morning?"

"Apparently they do! Although I've never heard of anybody else being resurrected before. You could come with me if you would like?" Oliver almost felt like swearing; the words had somehow tumbled out of his mouth. Never before had he experienced losing control of his speech like this and Oliver was half mortified at what he had just asked her.

"Oliver, no offence, but if I walked into court with you and your family, my private life would be over," Felicity pointed out. Oliver knew that she would obviously decline to be honest he wasn't even sure what had compelled him to ask her in the first place.

"You're right," Oliver unemotionally replied.

"Why does something give me a feeling that you don't say that very often?"

"Sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I'll see you tonight, won't I?"

Oliver's response was slightly stunted making Felicity realise that he was concerned about what he had previously asked her. Of course, Felicity was used to saying things without thinking about them and empathised with him. "It's okay my head to mouth filter is even more dysfunctional. Sometimes I even wish that I couldn't speak its _that_ embarrassing." Felicity paused. She didn't really know Oliver that well and yet she was for some reason unknown to her telling him personal details about herself. "And yes you will see me tonight. And if you are extra lucky the _arrowcave_ will be transformed!"

"Oh umm... And Felicity could you take clothes suitable for self defence lesson next time? They come for free as part of the Starling City Vigilante team join up pack." Felicity opened her mouth to protest at this which had come out of nowhere, but Oliver cut her off. "They're compulsory. You need them Felicity. Yesterday, when I semi attacked you and pinned you against the wall, you couldn't do anything to protect yourself. You need to learn basic self protection."

Felicity shook her head in exasperation, after Oliver left. "And it hasn't even taken fifteen minutes for me to regret joining this crusade. Bring it on."

**Next time on You're Cute- Olicity self defence classes and mega flirting**

**Thank you for reading! Please take the time to review as they are all highly appreciated and motivational. 'Til next time**

**Cavacookie**


	5. Felicity in Training

**A/N- Here is the olicity training you have been waiting for! I am planning on introducing more characters but Oliver and Felicity are keeping entertained for now. If I did though, who would you like to see? Loved the Arrow wedding last night. Hope you enjoy this chapter/episode/installment! **

If someone had asked Felicity what she would be doing a week ago, it definitely would not have involved conspiring with the Hood. To be honest, did the Hood even 'existed' a week ago? Felicity was not entirely sure but all she knew now was that she was here, wiring and setting up computers worth thousands of pounds in his secret lair. It was all very surreal and Felicity still hadn't been able to process everything that had happened. Even if she worked her way through a thousand tubs of chocolate mint ice cream, Felicity wasn't too sure if she ever would be able to process how her life was changing.

She stood up to admire her hard work. Instead of looking like an old retro workstation in a dim and dark room (the arrowcave as it was now called), there was now a sleek and modern workstation illuminating the lair. Felicity groaned at how much she still left to do and started to adjust the height of her chair that she had bought for the arrowcave. However, she was rudely interrupted from her work when her phone started ringing. It was Oliver.

"Felicity, for some reason I am stuck outside the foundry!" he angrily fumed over the phone.

Felicity pulled up footage from the CCTV camera she had just installed right outside the arrowcave's entrance onto her computer screen. She lounged back in her chair enjoying this far too much. "What foundry?"

"This isn't funny, Felicity," Oliver growled. Their crusade needed to remain serious: if it didn't they could risk certain death.

However, Felicity didn't see things in the same way as Oliver. Felicity viewed Oliver as being a depressed and damaged soul who needed some light and happiness in his life which she was going to provide. "It was you who promised to call it the arrowcave, mister," she teased.

"Not by choice. Now let me into the arrowcave!" Oliver said through clenched teeth.

"No need to go all grr on me," Felicity protectively said. "I'm just coming!"

Felicity climbed up the staircase and opened the door to the arrowcave, to find one disgruntled Oliver who looked like he might be about to yell at her.

"Instead of coming up, couldn't you have opened it from your computer system?" Oliver furiously interrogated. "You're definitely clever to have done so,"

"It's sweet that you think so- I mean you're right I could have done," Felicity nervously babbled. "Umm... I just wanted you to put this on." She pressed her scarf into Oliver hands and Oliver frowned at her. "Not round you're neck on. Put it on like a blindfold- like normal people do when they have a surprise for another person." Felicity was sure she looked extremely flushed which made her feel even more awkward. This whole situation seemed extremely cringeworthy but Oliver needed some light in the darkness of his crusade. Friends did this kind of thing, didn't they? At least Felicity thought they did. Felicity thought it weird that she even classed Oliver as a friend since she had known him for basically no time at all.

"I don't really do this sort of thing," he said uncomfortably.

Felicity immediately relaxed. "Why not? Even vigilantes need a bit of fun in their lives," she protested. At that moment, Felicity realised that the problem was that Oliver was scared of putting on the blindfold. He was scared of obscuring his eyesight. Vision was a senses he relied on heavily and without it he would be helpless. Oliver was scared that he would miss seeing someone attack them. Before this, Felicity hadn't realised how damaged Oliver was. Yes, he dressed up in a Robin Hood costume and put arrows rich people, but he had always seemed so strong and stoic, never as vulnerable as she saw him just now. Felicity struggled to comprehend how Oliver must of survived everything that had went on in the last five years.

"Trust me," Felicity murmured, squeezing his hand. With a little more coaxing she managed to tied the scarf securely, obscuring Oliver's view. She led him carefully down the stairs and into the half lit arrowcave. "You can look now."

Oliver peeled off her scarf. "Felicity this is- this is..." Oliver wasn't sure why his mouth wasn't able to find the words to describe it. Or why he felt confused about the sight of the arrowcave being transformed. All he knew was that it was incredible how Felicity had managed to achieve this much in such a short period of time.

Felicity smiled at him. "I've still got to wire up some of the lighting." She slumped down into her chair out of exhaustion. "This is _my_ chair by the way and you are not allowed to use it."

Oliver leant back against the steel table, his eyes still scanning the room to try and soak in its appearance. Then he focused his attention back on Felicity and placed his hand on her shoulder. Felicity thought it was a very intimate gesture for a man who she had only really known since last night, but it illustrated how much he trusted her already. "Thank you Felicity." Oliver was still at a loss of words. "It's- it's perfect."

Felicity shook her head at him. Five minutes ago he had been almost ready to eat her alive but now he had suddenly turned back into the adorable Oliver 'puppy dog' Queen. The world _really_ was a very strange place.

"And I'm sorry for yelling at you," Oliver softly murmured, apologised in his special tone he only reserved for Felicity.

"You spent five years in hell Oliver. I think I can just manage to forgive you," Felicity smiled. However, Oliver face darkened at her words so she decided to change the topic. "I just can't figure out what that is meant to be?" Felicity pointed at a bar sitting upon iron rungs.

Olive looked at where she was pointing. "That is a salmon ladder."

"Well that explains everything," Felicity sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation. Because of course she knew what a salmon ladder was.

"Watch," Oliver called shaking his head at her sarcasm. He pulled off his jacket and began to take off his top. Felicity was going to turn her back but caught sight of the scars on his body. She winced slightly at how painful they looked. No wonder Oliver had been so scared of putting the blindfold on. It looked as if he had been tortured and beaten hundreds more times than she cared to count. Even with the scars and tattoos, Felicity thought he had a rather good looking chest and abs and well everything.

Oliver pulled himself up onto the metal bar of the salmon ladder to show Felicity how it worked. It seemed to basically a pull up jump. Oliver managed to go up and down the salmon ladder with great precision, although Felicity wasn't sure why he needed to be shirtless (not that she was complaining because well his abs we're pretty amazing especially when he was working out).

"You want a go?" Oliver asked once he had finished. To Felicity's surprised he didn't seem to be out of breath although there was a slight gleam of sweat which had appeared on his skin. She stepped back in horror when Oliver suggested that she should have ago. "No? Okay then you can skip straight to the self defence classes."

Felicity groaned. "You know I'm really tired and my back has just developed this sort of ache." Felicity caught sight of Oliver's face which was definitely not amused in the slightest. She was going to have to work a lot harder to get him to stop brooding. "Right. I'll just go and get changed. Just right over there. Right in the bathroom."

...

"Oliver?" Felicity questioned as she walked back down into the arrowcave to find him clutching a gun. It had to be part of her training as she doubted that Oliver would ever use a gun against any criminals that invaded the arrowcave.

"If you were to come down here to find a person pointing a gun at you, what would you do?" Oliver asked, pointing the gun at her.

"Run," Felicity gulped. She didn't really understand why Oliver was asking her this as she wasn't an expert at all on anything to do with combat.

Oliver went onto the computer and locked the door. "You're too late. What would you do now?"

"Hope that you are with me? If not then definitely make my peace with the world." Felicity was very confused at what Oliver was trying to accomplish, by doing this. It didn't seem very much like self defence to her but more like battle strategy.

"Come on. Felicity, I don't know much about you but you're smart. Rely on your brain," Oliver said, shaking his head.

"I would put my hands up in surrender and try to talk myself out of the situation. Secretly, I'd also try and phone you." Felicity looked at Oliver hoping to be met with some kind of approval.

"Yes, you could talk yourself out of the situation but let's say this time it doesn't work. Now the only chance you have is to defend yourself is to disarm the person."

"I get it," Felicity sighed. "I _really_ need some self defence lessons."

"Try and disarm me," Oliver said. Felicity dubiously looked at him making Oliver smile slightly. "The gun has no ammunition and you're hardly going to hurt me. Just throw a punch or something." Felicity ducked down as to avoid the gun pointed directly at her and feebly made an attempt to get the gun from Oliver hands. However, Oliver saw this coming and quickly switched the gun to his other hand before 'gently' pushing Felicity back. Oliver's version of gentle was rough to Felicity and she just managed to keep herself standing.

"Commit Felicity," Oliver growled. "Whether or not you take me down depends on your survival. Aim to attack the face, neck or other vulnerable points of the body. Again!" Felicity went for a slower approach this time before quickly speeding up her move of ducking away from the gun and trying to knock it out of Oliver's hand. She then attempted to kick him behind his knee but Oliver deftly blocked her move and threw her back with a greater force than before which caused her to fall. Felicity clambered back to her feet straight away, determined to prove to Oliver that she was stronger than he thought.

"Good. Now that I've established what your weaknesses are, we can make a start on your actual training," Oliver announced, watching Felicity closely.

"I think we both knew before you tried to train me that my weakness is _everything_ when it comes to combat," Felicity laughed. She would have been upset but she already knew that she was rubbish at fighting.

Oliver gently attempted to reassure her, "Hey Felicity. You just need practice. Once you get into shape, you'll pick it up easily." Felicity definitely was not won over by Oliver's argument. "You need to learn to have a strong core and foundation before I even try to teach you defence attacks."

The next half hour consisted of Oliver teaching Felicity how to try and keep her foundation strong. Once he had tried to get Felicity to maintain a strong core, Oliver tested it out by trying to get Felicity to stay standing whilst he tried to push her to the ground.

"I think that's enough for now," Oliver said eventually, taking a swig from his water bottle. Felicity climbed up from the ground, trying to work out if any part of her body didn't ache. Apparently, all of it did and she was also slightly concerned that the angry purple bruises which were being to form would cause people to ask unwanted questions.

"You aren't tired?" Felicity teased. To her surprise, Oliver smiled at her. She didn't understand it- sometimes when she teased him he would be furious and at other times he did actually find her funny.

"No. This was just the warm up for what Martin Somers has coming his way. Did you find anything on him or the Triad?" Oliver's smile vanished and he changed back into his usual serious self. Felicity dragged her exhausted body to the computer bench and brought something up on the computer screen.

"Yes. He most likely ordered the murder of Victor Nocenti or at least that is what his daughter Emily thinks. Victor Nocenti knew that Martin Somers was taking bribes from the Triad and apparently threatened to have him killed if he went to the police," Felicity explained, looking carefully at Oliver's expression. He had made a pact not to kill anyone and she was going to are sure he kept his promise.

Oliver seemed to sense Felicity's concern. "I keep my promises Felicity so I'm not going to to kill him. Just forward me the address." He asked as he turned to leave.

"Oliver," Felicity called. He looked into her eyes deeply worried as Felicity just pressed a small device into his hand. "It's just an earpiece so that we can keep in touch."

Before Oliver left, he surveyed Felicity seriously.

"You better be ready for your first mission Felicity."

And with those last few words, he was gone.

**Please review! They never fail to make me smile! They almost make me smile as much as olicity in Arrow...**

**'Til next time faithful readers**

**Cavacookie**


	6. Restaurant Rendezvous

**_A/N- WOW THE ARROW TRAILER! THAT IS ALL I AM GOING TO SAY! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT WATCH IT, BUT IF YOU HAVE YOU'LL KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT! I THINK I'LL NEVER RECOVER AND AM STILL WRITING IN CAPITALS!_**

**_This chapter is probably more serious than the last two but is very lighthearted in the middle (think series 3 of Sherlock). There might not be an installment next week as I am away on holiday and the Internet may not be good._**

_'Before Oliver left, he surveyed Felicity seriously. _

_"You better be ready for your first mission Felicity." _

_And with those last few words, he was gone.'_

...

Felicity nervously fiddled with her earpiece, trying to get it to sit comfortably on her ear, but she was failing. She didn't completely understand why she felt so nervous. It wasn't like she hadn't participated in illegal activities before: she had been a hacker at MIT and had broke the law there. Perhaps it was because the stakes had never been so high- Oliver was relying on her computer hacking prowess to take him safely through the mission, and also to gain as much information on Martin Somers and the Triad as possible.

"Felicity, I need an address," Oliver growled over the com.

Felicity sighed out of relief that the com was working and brought a document up on her computer screen. "Martin Somers is probably at his docks which the Triad are almost certainly using to smuggle their drugs into Starling City. His docks are close to the south side of the City- Don't worry I'll guide you there. Take the second right."

Oliver vroomed his motorbike's engine and sped forward taking the second right. He pressed his com. "You could have warned me before you installed a tracker in my suit. And you better not have tampered with my arrows!"

Felicity shook in head in exasperation. "Boys and their toys. And no, I haven't messed with your arrows- I have this thing about pointy things, which is now very ironic since I'm partner to a vigilante who shoots arrows in people," Felicity babbled, trying her best not to get worked up. She needed to focus on the task at hand. "Take this left and then the fourth right at the roundabout."

As Felicity continued to guide Oliver to Somer's docks, she typed some code into the computer which allowed her to hack into CCTV cameras at the docks. She rewound the data to find three men entering a building right at Martin Somer's docks. "About twenty minutes ago three men entered the dock," Felicity told Oliver over the com. "One of them was Martin Somers and the other two were hooded. There was enough room for them to conceal guns under their coats. Be careful."

"I'll just be in and out," Oliver reassured Felicity, dismounting his motorbike. He took an arrow from his quiver and placed it in his bow. He needed to be careful; he could be attacked at any moment.

Felicity had no idea what was going on but she could hear everything that was happening where Oliver was as the com was still on. The sound of bullets being fired, most likely at Oliver, rudely greeted her ears. Felicity nervously touched her glasses- she had no idea if Oliver had been hurt or injured or _anything_. Staying here and not being able to do anything to help Oliver, really scared Felicity. She _needed_ to know what was going on and help Oliver.

Then silence fell. The guns had stopped firing.

"I'm okay," Oliver grumbled over the com. Felicity exhaled and placed her head in her palms, only just realising that she had been hyperventilating from the tension of the situation. Perhaps being the vigilante's partner wasn't going to be so fun, if she spent every night as stressed as she had just been.

...

Felicity's tension only truly dissipated when Oliver entered the arrowcave, safe and relatively unharmed. Something gave her an urge to hug him but she refrained, since he was still a brooding vigilante who would probably think it was weird for people who hardly knew each other to hug.

"So you did it!" Felicity remarked. Even though she had known Oliver was the vigilante, it still seemed weird to see him wearing the Hood's suit. To be frankly honest, Felicity thought that Oliver 'suited' the suit as it seemed to be almost in sync with who he was as a person. However, she did think that Oliver would probably look good wearing anything and everything. Felicity stalled in her thinking realising her eyes were lingering on his stomach precisely where his abs were situated.

"I had some help," Oliver admitted, a smile breaking out from under his tight lips.

Felicity returned his smile. "Is that a smile I see? I thought smiling was illegal in your world."

"It was," Oliver said, a frown creeping across his face. "I don't know why though? Somers may still not surrender yet."

Felicity slightly smiled to herself at how Oliver was avoiding saying that he felt happy. Her stomach growled reminding her that she hadn't eaten since lunchtime as she had lost track of time in the arrowcave. "Mmm... I'm craving Dim Sum after fisticuffs, please tell me that it won't be dumplings for one?" Felicity perkily asked. Five minutes ago she could barely keep her eyes open but now she wide awake and excited. She had always found it weird how drowsiness went through cycles.

However, Oliver, as usual, was not amused by Felicity's lightheartedness. He shook his head in disbelief. "Felicity it's one in the morning. We are _not_ going to get a Chinese."

Felicity shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose it _might_ not be the best option with the Triad running around in case it's a front for not-so-legal things. What about Italian? I love Italian."

"No," Oliver firmly said, handing Felicity her coat. "Italian can wait. You need to go to your apartment and get some sleep."

"You should too," Felicity indignantly said. She paused when she realised what it had actually sounded like. "Not go to my apartment and get some sleep- I mean go to your _own_ home and get some sleep." Felicity's cheeks flushed slightly. Why did her mouth always have to say things so awkwardly?

Oliver was too busy trying to not make up a lame excuse to notice. He uncomfortably cleared his throat. "I'll go later but first I need to umm... sharpen my arrows."

Felicity definitely wasn't even slightly close to falling for this extremely lame excuse. "I'm not going home until you go home," she defiantly said. Oliver eyes didn't quite meet Felicity's frosty glare. "It's one in the morning Oliver. You need plenty of sleep and good food so that you don't muck up whilst being the Hood."

"I suppose I'll just sharpen my arrows tomorrow then, _Dr_. Smoak," Oliver said offended that she had beat him... again.

"We're getting Italian first though," Felicity stated in a matter of fact manner.

"Fine," Oliver agreed through a clenched jaw. "But only because I don't want you wondering off to restaurants through the Glades in the middle a Saturday night. Will there _even_ be one open?"

"Yes I know one..."

"Do you often find yourself going to restaurants in the middle of the night?" Oliver teased, eventually catching on with Felicity's contagious lightheartedness.

Felicity would have punched her arm in the air and shouted 'Felicity one brooding vigilante nil' because Oliver was happy, but she thought it would be a bit of a give away to what she was up to. So, instead, Felicity placed her index finger to her lips. "I keep your secret."

...

After their 'rendezvous' to the Italian restaurant, Felicity somehow got home, crashed on her bed and slept for hours. Felicity was still fast asleep until some car backfired at around two o'clock the next afternoon. At first, Felicity felt like she was suffering from a really bad hangover but once she was properly awake she managed to figure out what was going on. Her mobile read:

'_11 missed calls from Oliver Queen'_

These missed calls combined with the hardass training he had been making her do made Felicity start to think that he was very overprotective; she had literally seen him just twelve hours ago. This just made Felicity more worried about Oliver's mentality than ever as he must of lost people very close to him in the past to be 'this' concerned about her. She quickly texted Oliver back explaining that she hadn't been taken hostage by the Triad and had just slept proper for the first time in basically forty hours. Oliver replied asking her if she was still on for assisting the vigilante that night which, of course, Felicity still was.

...

"You look down in the dumps," Felicity remarked, as she approached Oliver whose head was resting upon the workbench in the lair. He had completely ignored her coming in."Not that I think you have been to the dump. I just think you look more upset than usual." In response, Oliver completely turned his back to her and took a couple of steps away from her. "Hey don't shut me out. Tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing," Oliver growled his back still turned to Felicity.

"If it was nothing, you wouldn't be sulking," Felicity said, trying desperately to get Oliver to turn around. "Look I know that you like to be Mr-nothing-ever-bothers-me but you're human, Oliver. Sometimes it's braver for you to share your problems with someone else than let it bottle up inside of you."

"My mum and stepfather want me to work at QC and take over a manager role," Oliver began. He turned around and imposingly strode right towards her. "My sister is upset with her life and deals with it by taking drugs and alcohol. All the while I'm dressing up as a vigilante every night and Martin Somers hasn't confessed to having Victor Nocienti killed. I'm sorry but telling you my problems isn't going to change anything because you can't change how messed up my life is." Oliver clenched his fists tightly and smacked them against the table, completely frustrated at how everything in his life kept on getting worse.

"Excuse me," Felicity said in her loud voice. "So maybe I've led a very sheltered life compared to you but I've lost people too! You can't keep shutting people out. I didn't let anyone in when I lost people, but the pain was intolerable because it all built up and became so much worse. Maybe I can't fix your problems but I sure will help you through." Felicity took a short breath and analysed Oliver's expression which was half way between kicked puppy Oliver and '_I'm totally absorbed by what you're saying'_ Oliver.

She continued, "I agreed to be your partner but I am also the _only_ person who knows both your personas. Please, don't shut me out, because if you do, it'll be too late to save the light left inside of your soul."

Oliver stepped towards Felicity and looked at her closely. He didn't understand this IT girl, yet. She had obviously been through more than he had realised, still remaining as kind and innocent as anyone he had known. There was truth in her words but he didn't fully know what to respond with.

"Felicity, I'm- I'm just sorry-" Oliver stuttered, getting cut off by the computer pinging. A picture came up of Martin Somers back at his docks. He needed to go and teach that piece of scum a lesson.

Felicity appeared to be well aware that Oliver needed to leave so cut the conversation short. "Just remember that you can talk to me about anything," Felicity gently murmured in complete contrast to how she hd been previously talking. Her eyes fixed upon Oliver flickered to the computer screen. "Now go and bring Victor Nocienti's killer to justice."

**Thanks for reading. Please review. Also don't get too excited about that trailer**

**Till next time **

**Cavacookie**

**PS- Diggle will turn up again soon (probably next chapter)**


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